Cliff Clavin


Clifford C. Clavin, Jr., is a fictional character on the American television show Cheers co-created by John Ratzenberger. A postal worker, he is the bar's know-it-all and was a contestant on the game show Jeopardy! Cliff was not originally scripted in the series' pilot episode, "Give Me a Ring Sometime", but the producers decided to add a know-it-all character and Ratzenberger helped flesh it out. The actor made guest appearances as Cliff on The Tortellis, St. Elsewhere, Wings, and Frasier.

Development

Creation

The original script for the 1982 pilot, "Give Me A Ring Sometime", did not include Norm Peterson or Cliff Clavin. George Wendt and John Ratzenberger originally auditioned for a minor character, George, and George Wendt was hired for that role. George was Diane Chambers' first customer, had one line and was intended for only one episode.
Since Wendt was cast as George, Ratzenberger suggested to the producers that a know-it-all character should be added; this led to the creation of Cliff Clavin. Ratzenberger based his role on a police officer in his hometown of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Cliff was originally a security guard, but two days before the pilot's filming he was changed to a postman; the producers thought a postman would be more knowledgeable than a guard. Ratzenberger agreed to seven episodes of the first season, but his role expanded.
Stephen Tobolowsky told SplitSider.com that he had auditioned for Cliff.

Other appearances

On the Cheers 200th-episode special, host John McLaughlin asked Ratzenberger about Cliff Clavin. The actor replied that Cliff would describe himself as the "wingnut that holds Western civilization together"; however, Ratzenberger said he would describe Cliff simply as "a winged nut". When McLaughlin asked Ratzenberger if there was any part of him in Cliff, the actor replied that although he was interested in fascinating facts, the only part of Cliff in him was that they both wear white socks.
Cliff appeared in 273 episodes of Cheers between 1982 and 1993. He also made guest appearances as an animated character in The Simpsons episode "Fear of Flying", in The Tortellis episode "Frankie Comes to Dinner, in the Wings episode "" and the Frasier episode "Cheerful Goodbyes".
In 2014, Ratzenberger reprised his role as Cliff in the RadioShack Super Bowl XLVIII commercial "The '80s Called".

Role

Cliff is a postal worker, and Norm Peterson's best friend. He lives with his mother, Esther Clavin —first in his childhood two-story house, and then in a condominium with a sofabed. He is ridiculed by friends and enemies alike, including Carla and Norm, for his know-it-all attitude. He appears on Jeopardy! in the season-eight episode, "What Is... Cliff Clavin?". The postman wins $22,000 in the first two rounds with questions that favor him, but loses it all with a wrong answer in Final Jeopardy. Cliff has a few relationships with women. Then he has a relationship with fellow postal worker Margaret O'Keefe, which begins during Cheers seventh season. When Margaret becomes pregnant with another man's child in 1993's "Do Not Forsake Me O My Postman", Cliff stays by her side as the baby's stepfather before Margaret returns to the child's biological father.
In "The Barstoolie" Cliff meets his father, Cliff Clavin Sr., who left Cliff and his mother years earlier when Cliff was still a child. Cliff later realizes that his father is a fraudster and a fugitive from justice, and will run off again. Cliff does not want to turn his father in; Cliff Sr. disappears, leaving his son devastated.
In the 1993 series finale, Cliff finally receives a promotion. In "The Show Where Sam Shows Up", an episode of the Cheers spinoff Frasier, Sam tells Frasier that Cliff has not left home since he read an article about flesh-eating bacteria; however, Sam then discovers that Cliff is one of the other men with whom Sam's fiance Sheila had had sex. In another Frasier episode, "The Show Where Woody Shows Up", Woody tells Frasier that Cliff almost married a mail-order bride, but she decided to go back to Bosnia after spending a few days with him. In another Frasier episode, "Cheerful Goodbyes", Cliff has his retirement party at the airport bar; he had planned to move to Florida, but decides to stay in Boston.

Reception

On the NBC News website, Wendall Wittler called Cliff a "classic" character; however, Wittler found his friendship with Norm Peterson "superficial" and unworthy of comparison with the relationship between Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton on The Honeymooners.
According to an April 1–4, 1993 telephone survey of 1,011 people by the Times Mirror Center for the People and the Press, Sam Malone was voted a "favorite character" by twenty-six percent of respondents and Cliff Clavin by two percent. Choosing a character for a spinoff, 15 percent voted for Sam Malone, 29 percent opposed a character spinoff, and less than 10 percent voted for Cliff.
Cliff's appearance on Jeopardy! in "What Is... Cliff Clavin?" received several reviews. In his book Hope, Andrew Razeghi described Cliff as a poster child for psychologist J. P. Guilford for a response to the Final Jeopardy! clue which Razeghi considered neither right nor wrong. Jeffrey Robinson of DVD Talk found the Jeopardy! category topics during Cliff's appearance a "riot". In the Jeopardy! fan community Cliff's losing $22,000 in Final Jeopardy! inspired "Clavin's rule", discouraging future contestants from attempting the same.

Lawsuit

In 1993, Ratzenberger and Wendt sued Host International for copyright infringement, trademark infringement and violating the actors' personality rights. The company had manufactured two robotic toys who, the actors argued, resembled Cliff Clavin and Norm Peterson. The case was twice rejected by "a federal judge in California". At one hearing, the judge ruled that the defendant did not violate copyright because Paramount Pictures had already granted it a license to produce Cheers-based themes and decor for airport bars. At another, the judge ruled that the toys did not resemble the characters.
In 1997, however, "the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals twice reinstated" the case. At one hearing, it ruled that "federal copyright law" did not necessarily override the California Celebrities Rights Act. At another, the 9th Circuit ordered a jury trial on the basis of publicity rights. The case resulted in an undisclosed 2001 settlement by the company.